Why do I lose inches but not weight?

How long has it been since you lost weight?

If you aren't losing weight over a long period of time, like a month, you're eating too much. That's pretty much it. If you've been eating very low calories for a prolonged period of time, you may need to eat closer to maintenance for a while to help get your metabolism back in order though. So it could be some combination of eating too much after having not eaten enough for a while.

Muscle weighs more than fat, so if you are losing inches but not weight then you are replacing fat with muscle. That's good.

Your calorie count seems too low. Was that an average day?

A pound of fat = a pound of muscle = a pound of cheese.

A pound of fat TAKES UP LESS SPACE than a pound of lean muscle. You can lose fat, gain muscle, and not lose weight. Focus on the inches.

Muscle weighs more than fat, so if you are losing inches but not weight then you are replacing fat with muscle. That's good.

Your calorie count seems too low. Was that an average day?

A pound of fat = a pound of muscle = a pound of cheese.

A pound of fat TAKES UP LESS SPACE than a pound of lean muscle. You can lose fat, gain muscle, and not lose weight. Focus on the inches.

*sigh* One cubic inch of muscle weighs more than one cubic inch of fat. (If you can add implied words to make someone else's sentence fit your meaning then so can I.)

And that's a very different thing than saying muscle weighs more than fat. That actually confuses people. It's better for everyone if you say something like "muscle takes up less space than fat, and has a tighter firmer appearance."

You're building muscle!

I'm 5ft4, I've been the gym about 3 years but only started the right exercises this year. I've dropped jean and top sizes from a size uk 14 to a 12 even my bust size has gone from a 38 to a 36. I've been a 11st ever since even though I have changed sizes.
I still have 2.5 st to lose. Although I've been quite on/off in going to the gym for the past few months.

I have an hourglass figure, I do notice I put on muscle easily. The type of exercise my PT gives me have been HIIT cardio/weights or cardio & body weights with a number of reps.


Any ideas why I'm losing inches but not losing weight? Could it be to do with calories? sometimes I don't eat too much or I find it hard to make up calories eating healthier and when I have counted my calories it gets to between 900-1100 .

First, congratulations on losing inches ... that's some success and should be celebrated.

Second - the posters who've suggested you need to eat more calories are likely right. At 11st (about 154 lbs), 19yrs old and 5'4" tall your BMR (what you'd need to maintain weight if you were on 24/7 bedrest) is 1529 calories according to the most common formula.

If you were to rest 16 hrs a day, work at a desk 7.5hrs a day and exercise half an hour a day, your TDEE would be 1900 calories... If you're more active than that it's likely even higher. As such 900-1100 calories a day does you no favors. If I were you I'd up my calories to about 1400-1500 for a few weeks (unless you have a thyroid or other metabolic condition) and see how it goes. You may find both inches AND weight come off, and you'll often get higher energy levels to-boot.

Muscle is close to 5x more dense than fat.

If you are doing regular resistance style exercises while eating a balanced diet with a reasonable calorie count. You are re sculpting your body.

Don't know what your goals are but it sounds to me like you are on a good path.

5x? Not even close.

So is the MFP calories wrong with 1200cals? I'd probably only go 3 times to the gym a week and 4 times if I can manage. How do you make up the calories I can't seem to eat enough calories ? Also I'll be dairy free haven't started as of yet I was slowly getting into it.

MFP is often 'out-to-lunch' on it's recommended calories, especially the blanket "1200 calories" recommendation that seems to be given to 80% of women than join the community. A quick search of "1200 calories" on MFP will give you an idea of how many people find this doesn't work for them.

Muscle weighs more than fat, so if you are losing inches but not weight then you are replacing fat with muscle. That's good.

Your calorie count seems too low. Was that an average day?

A pound of fat = a pound of muscle = a pound of cheese.

A pound of fat TAKES UP LESS SPACE than a pound of lean muscle. You can lose fat, gain muscle, and not lose weight. Focus on the inches.

*sigh* One cubic inch of muscle weighs more than one cubic inch of fat. (If you can add implied words to make someone else's sentence fit your meaning then so can I.)

And that's a very different thing than saying muscle weighs more than fat. That actually confuses people. It's better for everyone if you say something like "muscle takes up less space than fat, and has a tighter firmer appearance."

And elephants weigh the same as mice. After all, 10 tons of elephants weighs the same as 10 tons of mice. Actually, nothing in existence weighs more than anything else. Everything weighs exactly the same amount, you just have to adjust the volume of things to get that same weight. SMH

Everyone with any analytical thinking ability whatsoever knows that when a person says muscle weighs more than fat, they are refering to per unit volume. And per unit volume, muscle DOES weigh more than fat.

I'm 5ft4, I've been the gym about 3 years but only started the right exercises this year. I've dropped jean and top sizes from a size uk 14 to a 12 even my bust size has gone from a 38 to a 36. I've been a 11st ever since even though I have changed sizes.
I still have 2.5 st to lose. Although I've been quite on/off in going to the gym for the past few months.

I have an hourglass figure, I do notice I put on muscle easily. The type of exercise my PT gives me have been HIIT cardio/weights or cardio & body weights with a number of reps.


Any ideas why I'm losing inches but not losing weight? Could it be to do with calories? sometimes I don't eat too much or I find it hard to make up calories eating healthier and when I have counted my calories it gets to between 900-1100 .

First, congratulations on losing inches ... that's some success and should be celebrated.

Second - the posters who've suggested you need to eat more calories are likely right. At 11st (about 154 lbs), 19yrs old and 5'4" tall your BMR (what you'd need to maintain weight if you were on 24/7 bedrest) is 1529 calories according to the most common formula.

If you were to rest 16 hrs a day, work at a desk 7.5hrs a day and exercise half an hour a day, your TDEE would be 1900 calories... If you're more active than that it's likely even higher. As such 900-1100 calories a day does you no favors. If I were you I'd up my calories to about 1400-1500 for a few weeks (unless you have a thyroid or other metabolic condition) and see how it goes. You may find both inches AND weight come off, and you'll often get higher energy levels to-boot.

So is the MFP calories wrong with 1200cals? I'd probably only go 3 times to the gym a week and 4 times if I can manage. How do you make up the calories I can't seem to eat enough calories ? Also I'll be dairy free haven't started as of yet I was slowly getting into it.

MFP expects you to eat back exercise calories. You can set your goal as 1200, but then you want to add exercise calories on top of that.